The Rain-bow

By Thomas Love Peacock 1785–1866

The day has pass’d in storms, though not unmix’d

With transitory calm. The western clouds,

Dissolving slow, unveil the glorious sun,

Majestic in decline. The wat’ry east

Glows with the many-tinted arch of Heav’n.

We hail it as a pledge that brighter skies

Shall bless the coming morn. Thus rolls the day,

The short dark day of life; with tempests thus,

And fleeting sun-shine chequer’d. At its close,

When the dread hour draws near, that bursts all ties,

All commerce with the world, Religion pours

Hope’s fairy-colors on the virtuous mind,

And, like the rain-bow on the ev’ning clouds,

Gives the bright promise that a happier dawn

Shall chase the night and silence of the grave.

Biography

Thomas Love Peacock was an accomplished poet, essayist, opera critic, and satiric novelist. During his lifetime his works received the approbation of other writers (some of whom were Peacock’s friends and the targets of his satire), literary critics (many of whom were simply his targets), and a notoriously vocal reading public. Today, Peacock’s reputation rests almost exclusively on the merits of his seven novels, four of . . .

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